Opinions on the Nord Wave?

Richard Devine · Joined: Aug 20, 2009 Posts: 10 Location: ATL, GA

Opinions on the Nord Wave? Anyone. I am thinking of maybe picking one up in the next few months, but wanted to know if it would be over kill, since. I already have a NL2x, NL3, G2, and G1. Would it be nice addition, or would it be to sonically similar to what I can do with my other Nords? I use them quite differently then how most people would, mostly for sound effects, and strange synthesis, Non-tonal FM crazyness=) Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Richard

Wout Blommers · Posted: Sun Aug 23, 2009 1:19 pm Post subject:

I have the opinion the Wave will be a great addition, special when the other synths are already around. To replace them, no way, but an addition, for sure. It is a little bit a NL3, but with the sampling ability! Sometimes it can be handy to sample the NL3 or another to build a sound.

And also...
Why don't you let us hear some of the effects and special synthese you do?

Wout

Richard Devine · Joined: Aug 20, 2009 Posts: 10 Location: ATL, GA

Hello, thanks for the fast response. I was going to ask you if I could somehow upload my Nord G2 patches here. I originally programmed presets for Cavia Nord back in 2005 when the G2 was launched. I have about 70-80 programs that are in every factory loaded G2. I could give these patches out to everyone here. I have about 110 unique G2 patches that I could share. Let me know, where to upload. As for sounds I make

http://www.devinesound.net
I do lots of commerical Sound design for other audio companies, Access Virus, Roland, Korg, Native Instruments, Avid/DigiDesign, Apple, Microsoft, and 100 hundreds of others. On the Devine Sound site I have some
(free sample packs to download) Circuit Bent 808, Arp-2600 Custom modified by Phil Circco CMS, and Broken Santur. All free to download. You will also see two links of two sample libraries I have released with Sony Media.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/pulse

And the Manuscript 2 X CD library also released with Sony

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/devinemanuscript

Samples of my music can be heard here:

http://www.richard-devine.com
http://www.myspace.com/richarddevine
twitter: @RichardDevine

Thanks
Richard

Wout Blommers

blue hell

pix · Joined: Jul 29, 2004 Posts: 32

hey Richard. I'm a big fan of your work.

I usually only have 1 or 2 synths at a time and right now I'm exploring the wave. I think it is an amazing synth sonically. I've had a nord lead 1 and a G2 and I have the feeling the sound has been improved. There's a lot of detail in the high frequencies and the fx are also top notch. but otoh I had the other nords a long time ago and a lot have changed since then (I have better speakers and know a bit more about programming)

you also have the sampler in it which opens a lot of possibilities. Samples sound good in it even when pitched a couple of octaves up/down. And you can use them as FM/PM modulators.

I have a couple of complaints about it though, in terms of limited modulators (just 2 simple non syncable, non resetable LFOs and no mod matrix). But I'm kind of hoping this will be addressed in the future.

here's a clip tweaking the wave

http://pixmusic.net/audio/wave%20away.mp3

and a rough sketch of some patterns with wave on top (jomox 999 and pro one for bass have the rest of the sounds)

http://pixmusic.net/audio/wavejmxdemo.m4a

robsol · Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:23 pm Post subject:

For me, the Nord Wave is a difficult one...

It is slightly pricey for what you get, even if it is obviously a quality product. As a standalone synth it falls short in some respects - it has no arpeggiator, not even the dual purpose LFO 2/arp as seen on previous Nords, and no syncable LFO's come to think of it. Also, have they sorted the aftertouch routing to just vibrato yet?? Having aftertouch routed to a morph group would be just sexy, and a very natural choice imo. It is, after all, a performance instrument. I can live with two slots and no split, but believe that I would miss a proper, dedicated feedback control for the delay. But I am getting silly now, and too picky perhaps.

On the other hand, if you look at it as part of a collection of Red synths it could be seen in a different light. I have for a long time dreamt of a Nord with custom samples - it is such a powerful and quick performance instrument. I was flat out astounded to see Clavia realise my dream and would very much like to get it as virtually no time would be spent learning how to use it. It just so happens that the very few things missing from it are deal breakers for me, even if they seem insubstantial. Such a pity that they are so close, yet no cigar. Oh well...

Oli · Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 10:04 pm Post subject:

pix · Joined: Jul 29, 2004 Posts: 32

yeah it has a bitter sweet taste to it. It's really hard to understand how they cut so many features from the other nord leads. Syncable LFOs would be a minimum, and the NL3 has 2 destinations for each, with the wave you have just one.

Then there's stuff like not even having pan for each patch. Since the fx are global and stereo and you really have 2 outputs it's really hard to use it with external processing, and having pan with the 2 slots would allow for a lot of tricks.

The way you interact with the 2 slots is also crippled imo. The prophet 08 does this really well, where you have the choice to tweak both slots at the same time if you want. This would also allow for new possibilities like using 2 sample osc in a patch.

But somehow I keep thinking/hoping that these issues will be addressed in a future os release. That and implementing true wavetable scanning on osc1. If they do this then they have a winner imo. Because the sound quality is there.

Oli · Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 4:42 am Post subject:

I can only think it's not really made for people into synthesis. More for keyboardists. Maybe I'm missing the point. I'm not sure if the sampling phenomenon has a lot of appeal in that market.

Ruud · Joined: Mar 17, 2008 Posts: 28 Location: Rotterdam

Well, start making music with it I should say.
The Wave has perfect samples and there are manufactories still producing more.
The electric piano, the (Rhodes wurlitzer), and some violins are well produced
The combinations with sounds is endless when you start tweaking the knobs.

So a happy user here Smile

fac · Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 11:28 am Post subject:

I've been interested in the Wave since it came out. To me, it's not meant to be a Nord Lead 4, or anything similar. If you want flexibility and synthesis power, get the NL3 or G2. The Wave, on the other hand, is like a rompler with knobs: a synth that allows you to use sampled waveforms to recreate common instruments, but also lets you tweak them to some extent. And not only that, but also has an interface that invites you to tweak.

The only other synth I know of that does something similar is the Roland JD-800, and I dont think its sound quality compares to the Nord.

I would certainly love to own a Wave, but unfortunately, its cost is prohibitive for me right now, even when Novamusik had them at $1700.

pix · Joined: Jul 29, 2004 Posts: 32

Ruud, I agree with you, and to be honest I think that its "simplicity" ends up making it an extremely musical synth. The basic sound is beautiful, open, rich. And you can still have a 4op FM sounds going on if you want. You can FM or PM spectral waves with a 2op as well or with a voice sample or whatever you put into it. So the room for experimentation is definitely there. But having these possibilities and then being crippled by the number of modulators available makes me a bit disappointed. A 4-slot mod matrix even if menu driven would make happy already. I don't know if dsp limitations don't allow for this but I think that this sound engine deserves more programming possibilities.

But overall I love it and I plan to keep it for a long time.

paalolav · Joined: Jul 08, 2009 Posts: 12 Location: Oslo

I´ve got a hunch that there will be news about the Wave soon, since they haven´t fixed the usual complaints (no unision, no arpeggiator, aftertouch to morph, split, reading looped wave-files in the manager, etc). Maybe there´s a hardware reason for this? I don´t know, but I certainly love my Wave, which I gig a lot with - it weights only 6kg! Very Happy

aymat · Joined: Nov 20, 2009 Posts: 1 Location: Colorado

I have to agree with pix, the sound really is beautiful, rich and open on the Nord Wave.

Ive owned a NL2, NL3 and NL2X. My favorite of the bunch has always been the NL2. I wasn't particularly fond of the NL3, and I personally didn't like the way the NL2X sounded after Clavia updated their DAC (I was partial to the rounder sound I got off the NL2).

In terms of tone, I find that the Nord Wave is right in between an NL2 and an NL3. As far as overall usability, its extremely flexible and as a sound designer's synth, it does not disappoint.

Maybe this is a bit of an abstract reply, but you know when you buy a piece of equipment and you go through some patches just to get a general idea of what it sounds it like? The Nord Wave is one of those instruments where I just immediately thought "Wow". Sometimes just messing around creating your own patches, you'll get to a point where you have something that just immediately takes you back to a specific place in time, and you're reminded of something you absolutely enjoyed about a track. That happens a lot with the Nord Wave, at least for me. I know plenty synths will remind you of a specific sound... but as cheesy as this will come off, the NW goes a bit further and captures the essence or feeling of that particular sound. There's few synths that really achieve that for me (my FS1R comes to mind). Its a very emotional sounding synth... its hard to say that without sounding a little fanboyish and somewhat crazy, I know. But the Nord Wave is definitely in that category... at least for me.

Cellomangler · Joined: Jun 03, 2009 Posts: 12 Location: Iuka, MS

Wout Blommers · Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2009 12:19 am Post subject:

In Europe we were thinking there was a depression going on in the USA Wink

Wout

Cellomangler · Joined: Jun 03, 2009 Posts: 12 Location: Iuka, MS

Wout Blommers · Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 2:16 am Post subject:

Cellomangler · Joined: Jun 03, 2009 Posts: 12 Location: Iuka, MS

Wout Blommers · Posted: Mon Nov 23, 2009 5:00 pm Post subject:

Well, the thing is I have a Oscilliscope program on the computer and I want a to make a small moving lines animation to show the drifting of oscillators, or something like that. What program would you recommand? A gif would do, I think, but I don't know how to create it. I tried a video camera in front of the scrfeen, but I will forget this kind of procedures...

Wout

Cellomangler · Joined: Jun 03, 2009 Posts: 12 Location: Iuka, MS

Wout Blommers · Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:29 am Post subject:

Thanks for the info Smile

Ligumo · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 5:29 am Post subject:

I've had my eye on the Nord Wave for a while as a possible purchase for the future. I may well hold off until the next version though. For me, one of the great things about the NR2X is having four outputs, but I note the the NW has just 2 (left and right). I'd want at least four, and even better some kind of USB>PC Total Integration system similar to the Virus TI. Also, I'd like more than 180mb storage - even better some kind of USB port so one could easily attach USB drives to the NW.

Still, I'm at least 12 months (and one album!) away from splashing out on another synth, so I'll wait to see what Clavia comes up with in the meantime!

Wout Blommers · Posted: Sat Dec 12, 2009 6:19 am Post subject: